In fact, a holiday event Forbes produced this past season for True[X], a digital ad company, was particularly bonded with lighting. It doesn’t take an international person of mystery to sleuth out that lighting design was a large component of this classic James Bond murder mystery theme!

Playa Studios was a blank canvas for the theme to play out. Gold was the primary color while diamonds were the shape that was repeated throughout. A photo booth area with a Bond shutter effect, a Bond villain and a Bond girl all added to the festivities.

Forbes, who has worked with our lighting designer Nicholas Blasi, many times during her 16 years as a top planner, asked him to create a retro look bathed in gold light. “I don’t try to rein in his creativity,” Forbes said. “The result is always unbelievable.”

With his license to kill it with lighting, Blasi made a statement right from the very beginning. “In the guest entrance, I overlaid the custom TRUE 007 gobo with a sparkling diamond effect,” he explained. “Select walls at the bars and lounges in reception area were also lighted with the same effect which carried the effect throughout. On the floor, we transformed the space with a series of fine line custom hexagon gobo patterns.”

And the perfect accessory for this event – besides a tuxedo and martini – was the addition of one last lighting effect — golden mirrored balls over the dance floor!

The stars aligned both on the red carpet and for event designer Billy Butchkavitz at this year’s HBO Golden Globes after party at the Beverly Hilton. This was the 75th Anniversary of the awards, a milestone marked by diamonds. Fusing the facets of diamonds with rich golden tones, accented with orchid, was the perfect visual Billy chose on a night all about Hollywood glitz and glam.

Our LD Curt Stahl worked with Billy to shine light on this multi-faceted design. Walls draped in sumptuous gold fabric were bright with uplighting, a textured gobo projected over the entire area added another layer of pure gold to the event, and carefully focused spots on the dining pavilion highlighted an artistic mobile sculpture centerpiece as well as art along the proscenium edge itself. Lending a moving element to the entire design was a wall featuring the video map talents of Bart Kresa. In all, all the elements of the Golden Globes after party added up to a gem of an event!

On the outside — literally — film premieres are about the red carpet, the flashing lights, the step-and-repeat and the media. Inside the event, however, the story is very different. The design of a premiere is usually an extension of the film’s artistry and how it made the audience feel.

For instance, when Jennifer Wang, founder of JWang Consulting, began to design the look of the Los Angeles premiere for director Guillermo del Toro’s adult fairy-tale, The Shape of Water (which won a Golden Globe for Best Director, Motion Picture, and Best Original Score), she wanted it to be a continuation of the world in which the audience had just stepped out of. “It was important to evoke the feeling of the film,” she said. Immersive experience is the phrase that comes to mind, especially for this story of a watery love affair between an aquatic creature and a lonely mute girl.

While Wang just founded her own event company last year, she has been producing film premieres and corporate events for 18 years and has a well-developed sense of style, objective and sense of how to mix the two. As it was in the film, light and color were important to achieving the look she and her client, Fox Searchlight, sought to best immerse guests in this unique world. Images By Lighting’s lighting designer, Nicholas Blasi, was be instrumental in helping her do this. Blasi understood the objective immediately. “She was very clear; Jennifer wanted guests to feel immersed inside the world of water.”

That world began from the very moment guests entered Ocean Prime Beverly Hills, the event space. There, the actual creature’s tank prop from the film was surrounded by watery floor-to-ceiling gobo projections that created a continuous flow of teal blue current. The teal itself was a custom tint that reflected the color palette used in the film and its promotional materials (below). After some trial and error, Blasi found just the right combination to recreate it, and then added purple uplighting on architectural elements to warm up the feeling of the space.

The restaurant provided the client enough room for the 500-plus guests, and the several wide open spaces that could work as a canvas for the lighting. However, what it didn’t provide was easy access for the use of a generator. Any possibilities they kicked around always ended up meaning that cables would have to be visible through the space and that would deter from the watery look.

Instead, Blasi brought in all LED and ran it on house power. “We brought in tons of glass gobos and rotators to create the movement. There were about 30 throughout the space, and another 80 uplights and pinspots. Everything was battery-powered,” Blasi said, adding that while this approach was needed in this case, green solutions like this are the future of lighting.

No river runs smoothly and a test run revealed a possible dam. “The main bar back is amber glass which did not tie in with the look of the party,” Wang explained. “Originally we were going to cover it in Plexiglas and backlight it in blue. But as we were testing the lighting, the moving lights on the wooden walls around it looked perfect. So instead of bringing in Plexi, I worked with AAA Flag and Banner to create a vinyl decal that recreated the look of the wood panels and would replace the amber glass for the night. It looked so good, the head corporate person from the restaurant jokingly commented why they didn’t print wood decals instead of buying real wood all the time?”

New ways of seeing, changes in preconceived notions … these were not only the result of vinyl decals but also the film’s underlying message. Like water and love, design and lighting are also essential elements with no formal shape until talented event professionals use them to construct the “shape” — a beautiful event space such as this — with them.

The star light at amFAR this year was shining strong thanks to honoree Julia Roberts. More than $2 million for HIV cure research was raised at the eighth annual amfAR Gala in Los Angeles this month. amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy.

The star-studded event, held in a tent on the upper lawn of Green Acres Estate (also known as the Harold Lloyd Estate), was hosted by James Corden. Tom Hanks and many other past amfAR honorees were in attendance to help honor Roberts for her contributions to the fight against AIDS and countless other humanitarian causes. Our team, led by lighting designer Nicolas Blasi, provided a soft texture of light over the dining tables as well as lighting for the stage which included performances by Corden, Fergie and Chris Martin of Coldplay. The stage backdrop was a hedge wall which we accented with uplighting. We also provided all of the portable power and distribution for all vendors.

This year the star-studded Environmental Media Association Awards were held at The Barker Hangar and produced by RG Live Events. The massive space was divided in two (really three if you count the “green carpet” arrivals). In the first half, guests interacted with sponsors such as Lexus and Clover in a farmer’s market style showcase. Our lighting designer Lonnie Thompson Thompson oversaw the installation of 400 feet of truss and used LEDs as much as possible for the eco-friendly event.

The second half of the evening was a transformation using lighting. It was a look that not many of the guests had experienced in the space. The Barker Hangar is a popular, and large, venue. (See the before and after photos below.) By redesigning the space with lighting, many challenges were resolved of the space and we were able to focus attention on what mattered.

The immersive design worked at many levels. At eye level, specialty lighted tables from Town and Country Event Rentals created total color and light drama. Above the guests, our team painted the hangar’s ceiling in vibrant colors of light. On stage, SenovvA AV produced the lighting and the multi-media presentation and lighting for celebrities such as host Jaden Smith (who dyed his hair green in solidarity with EMA whose hashtag is #green4ema).

In Hollywood, life often imitates art. And so it was that HBO’s documentary on the legendary film director, Steven Spielberg, found Spielberg himself on the other side of the camera as the subject of Susan Lacy’s film. At the opening premiere held at Paramount Studios, the director was the star of the night at an event designed by Billy Butchkavitz.

The studio lot was a study in blue for the evening. Swirling projections of light added drama to the blue entrance carpet, and the studio facades. A blue carpeted step and repeat was lighted for the media, and we added table pinspots and highlights on the main decor elements, one of them a larger-than-life vintage film camera and others still shots from his many films.

A gorgeous night in Los Angeles with an event designed to get people to look up, look down, look all around! The annual LA Philharmonic Gala is held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with cocktails inside and dinner in a tented space off the world-class venue. This year, neon lighting sculptures from Nights of Neon were used in conjunction with traditional lighting from our lighting team. Led by our lighting designer Lonnie Thompson, the look featured lighting textures layered over the space — on the floors, tables and perimeter.

The entire look was about seeing what is there, and what isn’t there. A tent that wasn’t there so the skyline of Los Angeles came into view, chairs that one could see through and neon sculpture inspired by the sound of music. Speaking of vision, it’s 20-20 in hindsight so let’s go back and show you how we got here!

Load in begins.

Sub flooring is in, tent structure is up. Blue tarp over the entire tent top kept the space from getting too hot.

Central truss, covered for design appeal, goes in.

Nights of Neon installing the main light art sculpture.

All elements inside and ready be placed. Once they are, our crew is up again on ladders to focus the pinspots.

This year’s star-studded HBO Emmy Awards after party and its inspired design proves that event designers and their work improve over time. Clearly, there is no slowing down for designer Billy Butchkavitz who along with his HBO collaborator Cindy Tenner, HBO’s vice president of special events, and a loyal team of creative partners, have designed the event for the past 19 consecutive years. While the first event were held at various venues, for the past 15 of those years the event has been held in a custom tent installed over the fountains at the Pacific Design Center.

Once again, Butchkavitz challenged himself and his team with another unique and exciting theme; this time inspired by the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England. The palace, a seaside “resort” built for King George IV, was started in 1787 and was added onto through 1822, is an exotic addition to the English seaside town. Its interior is an homage to chinoiserie – a blend of Asian and Europe decorative arts – while its exterior is a beautiful collage of domes and minarets. It’s effect on Butchkavitz has been great.

“I’ve been going to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton for almost 30 years,” Butchkavitz said. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to do an event based on the interior design of this magnificent palace.” This was his moment to do so.

In true Butchkavitz style, a multitude of custom textiles, furniture, tabletop decor, and carpeting were artfully combined to match the pavilion’s chinoiserie interiors. A series of 12-foot Chinese guardian lions stood in the main dining pavilion, and a 30-foot tiered pagoda surrounded by giant jade trees served as the entertainment hub. In front of the pagoda, guests could cross a garden pond over a 16-foot-long chinoiserie bridges.

But it was when guests looked up that they glimpsed the true magnificence of the palace and its design style. Butchkavitz had created a 20-foot-long replica of a show-stopping dragon chandelier that hangs in the Royal Pavilion’s banquet room.

Just as the Royal Pavilion was produced by a longtime team, Butchkavitz called upon his team of creative partners, many of whom have been working with him on all 19 years of HBO Emmy parties. Agile Eye Solutions constructed the large-scale decor pieces, pagoda, custom tent skin embellishments, and the step-and-repeat. Our lighting designer Curt Stahl provided dramatic lighting while Bart Kresa Design projected artistic designs. Special Event Contractors installed the elevated subfloors, perimeter walls, elevated walkways, and decorative railings. And Town & County Event Rentals provided the custom tent, carpeting and rentals.

The history of the actual Royal Pavilion over the years includes parties, hospitals and flower shows, contains influences from China, India and France, and includes characters as diverse as fishermen, monarchs and soldiers. Given this, and its intricate design, Butchkavitz could not have chosen a more perfect theme for an HBO event — a media outlet that brings us stories from many exotic locales, and celebrates characters from humble to holy!

The theme of this year’s Governor Ball following the 69th Annual Emmy Awards was Golden Grandeur yet not all that glittered was gold. That’s because the event, which at 4,000 guest is one of the largest formal seated dinners in North America, and its producer for the past 20 years, Sequoia Productions, was committed to making as many of the evening’s elements sustainable and reusable. For instance, all food and debris was composted afterward, carpet was donated to Habitat for Humanity, rentals were reused, and all lights and fixtures were energy-efficient. It was awards lighting for the next generation.

Inspired by the Emmy gold, the most dramatic element of the monochromatic design was sustainable as well. Five thousand tubes designed by Irma Hardjakusumah ranged from two to 20 feet in length. They were painstakingly installed vertically by Bill Ferrell Co. to create a sweeping wave effect in the ceiling of the Los Angeles Convention Center. But instead of made from metal or plastic, they were cylinders of paper painted in a biodegradable gold coloring.

Our senior lighting designer Ray Thompson created a play of lighting that would add movement across the tubes, at times totally change their color to go with the mood and the music, and create emotional crescendos when the evening called for them. See video at the end of this post.

We were proud to be part of this golden moment in awards lighting once again!

A picture perfect wedding this month in Malibu. Wedding lighting entailed stringer lights for that California vibe, and landscape and architectural highlights. Loved the images by our friends at Next Exit Photography!